SECRET Painter's Palette Valentine

So I forgot to show you what I did with 1st & 2nd grade for Valentine's Day! We made..shhhh...SECRET Valentines!  I have weird Eureaka moments ever so often. Like, how can encorporate new art materials....say watercolor pencils into a new lesson? I like a challenge. First we traced palette templates on white cardstock, then cut it out. Then using tiny heart templates used WATERCOLOR PENCILS to trace inside and then color in! Viola!

Then using a white oil pastel or white crayon, write a secret message! Make it fun! I wrote some basic messages on the board but you could write "You're a work of Heart!" or "I love you with my whole ART!" to give it a unique, fun, spin! Then I had students come up with a red or pink Q-tip and using a hot glue gun, made a tiny dot of glue to secure a "paintbrush" or Q-tip to the Valentine. They then can write on the back to and from  XXX and OOO's. I explained that you could give it to someone you know and tell them to dip their 'paintbrush' into water and then use the "paint hearts" to get paint on the brush and spread it over the secret message.  I had my students make 2. 1 for themselves so they could reveal the secret message and 1 to a friend or family member to have them reveal it with them! They were amazed that watercolor pencils really turn into watercolor paint!